Jamaica poised to help certify Guyana’s food exports to US

Last Updated on Thursday, 6 October 2022, 8:13 by Denis Chabrol

A Jamaican accreditation agency, which operates to United States Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA) standards, is offering to certify Guyana’s laboratories for food exports to that North American country, officials said late Thursday.

“We are planning to have a relationship with Guyana so that as you produce more food , we provide the testing, in partnership with a Guyanese company that we are going to work towards and setting up with you  to do the accreditation. We have FDA accreditation, we have other accreditations. We are one of four countries in the world that have an FDA accreditation to accredit food going to the United States so it doesn’t have to be tested when you go there again,”  Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Aubyn Hill told reporters.

He said already Jamaica was playing a role in testing Guyana’s rice and other food exports.

The Jamaica National Association for Accreditation, which has already accredited four Guyanese agencies, accredits laboratories and other institutions to allow them to export.

Guyana is leading the Caribbean Community’s plan to reduce regional food imports by 25 percent by 2025.

Mr Hill said Jamaica, with its experience in logistics, could be an asset for Guyana as well as there are opportunities to twin Guyana’s eco-tourism with Jamaica’s sea, sun and beach offering.

President of the government-run Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) Diane Edwards identified the need for globally recognised food certification as one of the major challenges that Guyana needs to resolve. “I think certification is a huge one because if Guyanese companies want to export, particularly in the food and the life sciences area, you have to be certified and we have the only certification body in the Caribbean that can certify for export and that is USFDA accredited so I think certification is certainly one way where we can work together,” he said.

The delegation from JAMPRO and 38 business executives from 22 companies from that Caribbean island travelled to Guyana for talks with government and several private sector organisations. The National Commercial Bank Capital Markets, the investment arm of that large financial conglomerate, co-sponsored the mission.

The Jamaican business community is also eyeing opportunities in the construction of new commercial buildings,  financing agri-business, information technology, agro-processing, seafood processing, human resources, production of personal protective equipment and luxury automobile supplies.

JAMPRO and the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) Thursday night signed a memorandum of understanding. The JAMPRO President said business representatives rushed to grab the opportunity to travel to Guyana, regarded as the new and fastest growing wealthy frontier in the Caribbean.

“Obviously people know that there is oil. People know that there is going to be huge wealth generated in the country. They also know that you have already experienced growth rates of 47 percent and growth rates higher than that are expected,” she said. “We have a very strong and vibrant financial services sector and so because Jamaica is small, all of these companies are looking for opportunities outside of Jamaica so Guyana is a natural (destination),” she added.

Before coming here, she said the planning included a ‘Doing Business in Guyana’ forum which was well-attended by 50 representatives of 30 companies.

Mr Hill told a networking session that another team of business representatives, including contractors and financiers, and those with other interests would be retuning to Guyana in another two and half months. He promised that Jamaica would share its expertise in Business Processing Outsourcing and the financial services sector.